New year, new intriguing landscaping trends.
It’s a great time to look around at your HOA community, take stock, and add some new, invigorating elements that will make it an even more impressive place to live.
Want to freshen up a bit? Save water? Finally have a garden that thrives? Attract new residents?
Take a look at six HOA landscaping trends that will make your property shine.
Xeriscaping
Think less water.
As Texas experiences more drought, and water restrictions become more widespread, xeriscaping becomes a hot HOA landscaping trend.
It’s a style of landscaping and gardening designed to thrive with little or no irrigation.
Use plants that are suited to a dry location. Then, just relax and enjoy the view.
Choose plants native to Texas and you get the added bonus of birds and butterflies.
You save money, too. No fertilizers, pesticides, or irrigation cost.
Here are just a few examples of great plants for xeriscaping in central Texas. We can suggest plenty more.
Sedum
Sedum comes in all kinds of varieties. The hunt is half the fun. One of our favorites is Lemon Coral Sedum, a pretty, textured succulent with spiky yellow-green foliage.
Bat-faced Cuphea
The curious plant with purple and red blooms actually looks like a little bat face.
Texas Sage
This native shrub boasts beautiful silvery foliage and pretty purple flowers from spring right through autumn. Watch for bees, butterflies, and other pollinators.
Cool New Planters
Steel is the latest look for eye-catching planters.
Position these sleek metal containers at entryways, where residents and potential buyers can appreciate the updated look.
An evergreen centerpiece will look great all year, but surround it with a rotation of fresh, appealing annuals that change with the seasons.
Dry Creek Beds
A dry creek bed adds interest to an area of your landscape where plants don’t thrive, or where you have problems with water runoff.
Nope, you can’t go fishing, but there are plenty of other great features.
Curving and meandering through your property like a natural creek, a dry creek bed is lined with attractive stones and maybe some drought-tolerant plants.
You get the design interest of a natural stream, with no maintenance.
It’s also a great solution for poor drainage.
These dry creek beds channel and collect rainwater, allowing it to percolate into the ground slowly.
They’re filled with a base of coarse gravel that absorbs rainwater, then topped with attractive river rocks.
Add drought-tolerant plants along the sides for interest, and to soften the creek bed edges.
Shade Gardens
There are lots of reasons to love a shade garden — besides the fact that it’s one of 2020’s great HOA landscaping trends.
Here in our Texas heat, a cool, shady spot in the yard is a welcome respite. A shade garden is green and leafy. Add a hammock. See you in a few hours.
Plants in the shade need less water. That’s less work for you and a bonus for the environment.
And sometimes, nature just gives you shade. Maybe an area of your yard that used to be sunny years ago has matured. Trees grow. Shrubs expand.
If you’ve been struggling to keep sun-loving plants alive as the shade creeps in, now is a great time for a shade garden.
Lots of plants won’t thrive in deep shade, but plenty will. It doesn’t mean giving up color and beauty. Some shade-loving plants are stunners.
Here are a few to try:
Turk’s Cap
This easy to grow native sports red flowers shaped like little turbans. It does well even in deep shade, and pollinators love it.
Ferns
No shade garden is complete without the delicate, lacy beauty of ferns. Try the graceful Southern Maidenhair Fern; Tassel Fern with hairy, dark green fronds; the stunning Japanese Painted Fern that looks hand painted in streaks of silvery gray and purple.
We can suggest lots more. Just ask us.
American Beautyberry
This lovely deciduous shrub boasts purple berries that birds love.
Red Columbine
Yes, a shade garden can include colorful flowers. This shade-loving beauty attracts hummingbirds, butterflies, and the very cool hawk moth.
Leatherleaf Mahonia
It has everything going on. This striking shrub has fragrant yellow blooms in the spring, followed by light blue and black berry clusters. In the fall, watch for pretty red and burgundy leaves.
Give Trees a Color Boost
Give your property’s trees an extra boost of color by adding tinted filters to the landscape lighting fixtures that light them. Match the filter shade to the color of the tree’s leaves.
Entrance Appeal: A Timeless HOA Landscaping Trend
Bright, wow-inspiring seasonal flowers at your HOA entrances are always on trend — and one of your most important landscape elements.
Make sure they always look fresh, colorful, and welcoming. People notice, and love, impressive bursts of color.
Looking for HOA Landscaping Trends? Ask North by Northwest
We’re proud of the meticulous landscaping we do for our HOA customers and the great relationships we’ve forged with their boards.
We know you want your community to look great, feel welcoming, and attract new buyers. Trust us to keep you posted on the latest HOA landscaping trends to keep your community vibrant and up to date.
We’d love to partner with you to make your landscaping impressive and your job hassle-free.
Are you ready for stress-free landscaping? Schedule a time to meet with one of our experts today. We’ll gather the details, create a customized plan just for you, and you can stop stressing as we improve and beautify your HOA community.
Image sources: sedum, bat-faced cuphea, texas sage, turk's cap, southern maidenhair fern, american beautyberry, red columbine, leatherleaf mahonia